Presented to William Bird Esqr.As a token of Gratitudefor the great favors conferredin the year 1811when prejudices where much againstTHE DONOR

Kennington Chapel 1825

..... and a theory that it was somehow linked to Reverend Robert Taylor Hunt who was a dissenter against the Church of England who preached at an independent meeting house, probably Baptist, called Kennington Chapel. The reason I thought there was a connection was because Rev. Hunt had, for some unexplained reason, been left a substantial amount of money in William's Will (today's value about £13,000). My blog ended with the rather pessimistic sentence "We will almost certainly never know" what the inscription referred to.

A dissenter is one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. English Dissenters opposed state interference in religious matters, and founded their own churches, educational establishments, and communities. These ministers and their followers came to be known as Nonconformists. Dissenting groups continuing today include Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians (majority in Scotland but classified as dissenters in England), Quakers and Unitarians.

"Robert T.Hunt 1817 - 1834 The minister"

​Well, I think I have, at last, found one of the missing pieces of the jigsaw which explains why 1811 was such an important year for the clergy preaching outside the Church of England doctrine. However, I have also discovered that Rev. Hunt didn't become the minister at the chapel until 1817, so "THE DONOR" probably wasn't him. ​From what I have found so far, the Minister between 1807 and 1814 could have been Dr. Richard Povah (definitely 1805, probably ceased by 1807), Thomas Comyn (definitely 1814), or someone else.

The missing jigsaw piece was the 1811 Protestant Dissenting Ministers Bill which Parliament tried to pass and which would have excluded certain individuals from receiving a licence to preach as a minister. ​

It seems that at this time, since the Toleration Act of 1689, any person, however depraved, however ignorant and illiterate, whether descending from a chimney or a pillory, if he appeared at the quarter sessions, and claimed to take the oath of allegiance to his Sovereign and that against Popery, he was entitled to, and could demand a certificate, although there was no proof of his fitness to preach, or of his having any congregation requiring his ministerial services.

This licence gave the bearer some status and, because they were so easy to obtain, the procedure had been misused by certain individuals. It resulted that the immunities granted by these acts were in a number of instances claimed and enjoyed by individuals, to the greater burden of the rest of their fellow-subjects. Down to 1802, one of those immunities was an exemption from military services; and, to this time, from serving on juries, and other civil duties, which were forced upon other members of society.

The 1811 Bill was intended to clarify the law and to prevent coblers, tailors, pig-drovers, and chimney-sweepers from obtaining certificates.

Article continued opposite ...

In 1840 an article gave an indication of what the prejudices referred to on the teapot may have related to : There are evils in the church, and there are also ten thousand evils amongst dissenters. Worldly-mindedness, pride, self-interest, and party feeling, seem to reign among a vast mass of ministers and people. The aristocracy of dissent look with scorn upon their less wealthy, less elevated, and less influential brethren so that a plain, humble, Baptist minister, who is not one of the great and rich of his denomination, but a hard-working, pains taking, useful man, called, and said he thought we ought to have a Dissenting Ministers' Protection Society, to defend the humble working class of ministers from the persecutions and prejudices of persons of all descriptions amongst dissenters who are so exalted and imperious.

The teapot is hallmarked 1811 but what favours were conferred on William ? He was 54 years old with a large young family and hadn't yet made his fortune building properties in Lambeth (1820 – 24). Perhaps there had been some trouble in the Kennington / Lambeth area and William had done something to quell the anger from those in the Church of England who had taken against the dissenters ? ​Perhaps Kennington Chapel was “THE DONOR”.

Sources:

Quotes in mauve are from local newspapers of the time.

London Borough of Lambeth : Watercolour painting by G.Yates in 1825 - Interior view of the altar and organ in the Kennington Chapel, Kennington Park Road. Built 1796 'for the use of independents' it was said to accommodate around 500 people. The first minister was David Bradbury. In the 1840's it became a Church of England proprietory chapel dedicated to St James. The site was sold to the NAAFI in 1923 and chapelk demolished.

Other information :

Known ministers at Kennington Chapel : 1796 until his death in 1803 David Bradberry1805 (and at least 1806) Richard Povah1814 Thomas Comyn1817 until 1834 Robert T. Hunt

In 1833 William Bird died.

Ironically, a year after William’s death, in September 1834 the Chapel was converted into a chapel of ease to allow devine service to take place. A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently.